Iran is working to eliminate subsidies on oil and natural gas, International Monetary Fund economists said on Tuesday.
Iran's energy price reform is expected to lower demand as prices rise in the country. The higher prices will prompt more efficient energy use within Iran while increasing the supply of oil and gas available for export, the economists said in an interview published on the IMF website.
Iran's energy subsidies kept domestic oil and gas prices as low at 10 cents a liter in an effort to distribute the country's wealth to its people, said senior IMF economist Roman Zytek.
But as the gap between the extraction price and prices on the international market surged in recent years, "giving away for free something that could be sold for a pile of money is not the best policy," Zytek said.
Also, the cheap price of fuel spurred energy waste and magnified pollution in the country. Zytek said the subsidy allowed Iran's wealthiest people to splurge on gas-guzzling vehicles and large energy-inefficient appliances, while the poor saw fewer benefits because they use less energy.
Until recently a four-member Iranian household received an average of $4,000 a year in subsidies for oil and natural gas, compared with a typical annual income of about $3,600 a year, the Washington-based organization’s website said.
Iran hopes revenue from increased energy exports will boost its economy, the world's 17th largest, the IMF said.
"The government is aiming to grow at the pace of South Korea and other vibrant emerging market countries, and they realize that the only way to do so is to restore market pricing of energy," said IMF mission chief to Iran Dominique Guillaume.

First Target
Guillaume added that the law adopted in January to cut the subsidies included a first-year revenue target of $20 billion.

In the 1980s, when Iran was at war with neighboring Iraq, it “was one of the most energy-efficient countries,” and now it’s “one of the most wasteful,” Guillaume said. “If they don’t restore the balance, the country will never achieve its high-growth potential.”
Iranians can expect the first price hike to lift energy product prices between four and 20 times previous levels, Guillaume said, with prices surging even higher eventually.
To ease the transition for Iranians, half the added revenues will go to citizens in the first year. Businesses will receive 30 percent of the additional revenues to invest in energy efficient technologies.
Iran’s economy probably grew by 1 to 2 percent this year, slowed by weak domestic demand, the IMF said. The country’s foreign debt is less than 7 percent of gross domestic product, and inflation has declined to less than 10 percent from almost 30 percent two years ago as the Central Bank withdrew liquidity, it said.
The lower level of inflation is a “good foundation” for the new energy pricing, Guillaume said.
“Eliminating energy subsidies means that the Iranian people will see an increase in prices, so it’s important to have low inflation to start with.”

China Calls for Comprehensive Economic Collaboration

Compiled by Davood Baqeri

China wants deeper trade ties with Iran, a senior Chinese official was quoted as saying on Wednesday, commending relations between the two countries despite the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
"China is willing to continue maintaining high-level contacts and exchanges at all levels with Iran and deepen mutual political trust," the People's Daily quoted Li Changchun, the ruling Communist Party’s chief propaganda official as saying.
The two sides should "deepen trade and economic relations, earnestly put into effect agreements and contracts singed earlier, develop infrastructure, communication, auto and light rail cooperation", Li said in Tehran.
"The positive and stable development of ties has brought real benefits to the two peoples," he told Iranian officials.

Declared Policy
In a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad he said that China wants to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear program through talks and in line with Beijing’s declared policy.
"China is willing to continue playing a constructive role in this regard," Li said, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Ahmadinejad expressed "appreciation for China's longstanding efforts to help resolve the nuclear issue", adding that "Iran is committed to solving the issue through negotiations."
Iran will continue implementing its China-friendly policies, he added.

Common Enemy
Ahmadinejad called for the "convergence" of Sino-Iran policies in the face of the "common enemy imperialism."
The president said closer cooperation would "prevent the enemies from creating obstacles in the way of development of the two countries."
"The imperialist system, which is the common enemy of both Iran and China, is against the development of our two countries," the president's official website quoted him as saying.

China Calls for...
From Page 1
“Our relations are a manifestation of the convergence of Iran-China policies in the face of the enemies’ extremism,” he added.
The two sides would raise annual trade volume to $100 billion within five years and invest an estimated $200 billion in joint projects, he noted.

Unilateral Sanctions
Fars News Agency quoted the Chinese official as saying that his country is against unilateral sanctions against Iran.
“China is strongly against unilateral sanctions and pressure [exerted] by the western countries and the US on Iran over its nuclear program,” he said Tuesday.
“China supports Iran’s legitimate right, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to use nuclear energy for peaceful applications,” Li said. He criticized America’s double standards on key international issues, noting that the self-styled superpower and its allies resort to military might to impose their hegemonic policies.
He called for appropriate strategies to counter such measures and reiterated Iran’s importance and influence in the region. The progress and power of the Islamic Republic and other developing countries can and should help rewrite the existing unjust world order, he was quoted as saying.
He welcomed Iran’s role in developing relations with his country and emphasized on Beijing’s commitment to the policy of cordial ties with Tehran.
The Chinese official said the two countries should deepen trade and economic relations and implement agreements and contracts already signed. According to Li, positive and stable developments in two-way ties had been beneficial for the two peoples.
China backed UN Security Council resolutions pressing Iran to abandon its nuclear program, which western governments say are aimed at giving Iran the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran says the program is purely for peaceful purposes
Western governments have been pushing China to curb its energy and economic ties with Iran, which they see as shielding Iran from international pressure.
China has pushed back at US pressure on its business and oil trade with Iran in comments published last month, saying Chinese trade with Iran should not be criticized.
Iran is a major supplier of oil to China, the world’s second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States.

Two US senators urged the Obama adminstartion on Tuesday to punish Chinese and Turkish firms for providing Iran with refined petroleum products.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Jon Kyl, his party’s number-two leader in the chamber, called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a letter to “promptly” enforce a US law aimed at denying Iran access to world gasoline markets, AFP reported.
The United States should “penalize those companies that are continuing to supply Iran with refined petroleum products” since President Barack Obama signed the law in July, they wrote.
“According to press reports, these would include Turkey’s Turpas, and China’s Sinopec, National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and Zhuhai Zhenrong,” said Kyl and Schumer, whose offices made the letter public.
US lawmakers have bitterly complained that Chinese firms have taken the place of European rivals leaving the Iranian market, undermining international sanctions aimed at halting Tehran’s nuclear program.
Washington should also tighten the financial noose on Iran by imposing sanctions on its central bank and taking steps “to ensure Iranian banks are not able to participate in the international banking system,” they said.
The Obama administration should also move to deny US government contracts to firms that export communications jamming or monitoring technology to Iran, they said.
The senators pressed Clinton to act on the sanctions irrespective of Iran’s stated willingness to return to talks with world powers.
The lawmakers claimed Iran aimed to use such outreach as it has in the past to gain “a reprieve from sanctions,” only to stymie Washington and its partners later.
“We must urge our allies to resist any false entreaty to negotiate from Iran,” they said.

Nanoantenna Designed At Persian Gulf University

A nanoantenna capable of providing the most antenna efficiency and radiative decay was designed by Iranian researchers at Persian Gulf University in Bushehr.
A nanoantenna capable of providing the most antenna efficiency and radiative decay was designed by Iranian researchers at Persian Gulf University in Bushehr.
A problem bound to the design of nanoantennas is the impossibility of increasing antenna efficiency and radiative decay simultaneously. The increase in antenna efficiency within the visible and infrared range accompanies a quick decline in radiative decay, especially in nanorods and nanoellipsoids, Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council reported.
“We designed a nanoantenna capable of supplying the most antenna efficiency (power emitted to far field divided by total emitted power) and the most radiative decay rate at the same time,” Ahmad Mohammadi, an assistant physics professor at Persian Gulf University, said.
“We first produced a considerable increase in the field close to the nanocone and consequently in radiative decay rate by adjusting its tip size precisely. We achieved the most antenna efficiency by correctly choosing the cone base. We used bipolar radiative classic model in the vicinity of nanostructures to calculate molecule radiative power,” he added.
Given the rotational symmetry of the mentioned nanoantennas, the Iranian researchers reduced the problem to two dimensions analytically by applying BOR-FDTD method. They managed to run this model with a high precision and very fine reticulation on personal computers.
Mohammadi showed that it is possible to adjust plasmon resonance spectral location to shorter wavelengths with no decrease in quantum yield and radiative decay rate by increasing cone angle through the present research.
The computational part of this research has been conducted by the physics group at Persian Gulf University, in cooperation with Franziska Kaminski from Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark and Dr. Mario Agio from nanooptic group at ETH University, Switzerland. Construction and experimentation parts were fabricated by the nanooptic group at Persian Gulf University under Prof. Vahid Sandouqdar’s supervision.

Molana Commemorated

Tehran’s Melal (nations) Cultural Center commemorated the renowned Persian mystic poet Moalana Jalaleddin Rumi on Wednesday.
Tehran’s Melal (nations) Cultural Center commemorated the renowned Persian mystic poet Moalana Jalaleddin Rumi on Wednesday.
September 30 marks the National Day of Molana in Iran, Fars News Agency said.
Iranian researchers on the great poet, including Mohammad Badkoubei spoke on Rumi characteristics at the event. Poetry recitation and live music were also o the agenda.
Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi known as ‘Molana’ (1207-73) was a Persian poet, mystic and theologian, who was born in Balkh (now part of Afghanistan), once part of Persia, and passed away in Konya, Turkey.
Molana is better known for his six-volume book of poems ‘Masnavi’ considered by many to be one of the greatest works of both Islamic mysticism and Persian literature.
UNESCO named 2007 as the year of Rumi in honor of the Persian poet’s outstanding achievements.
Rumi’s importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His original works are widely read in their original language across the Persian-speaking world.
Translations of his works are very popular in other countries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. In 2007, he was described as the “most popular poet in America”.
Rumi was an evolutionary thinker in the sense that he believed that the spirit after devolution from the divine Ego undergoes an evolutionary process by which it comes nearer and nearer to the same divine Ego.

Kim Jong-Un’s Leadership Practically Confirmed

The youngest son of ailing leader Kim Jong-Il has been given powerful posts in North Korea's ruling party, state media said Wednesday, confirming his status as heir apparent in the nuclear-armed nation.
Kim Jong-Un was named one of two vice-chairmen of the central military commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and a member of its central committee, a day after his father appointed him a four-star general, AFP reported.
"Now the crown prince has all he needs to become the next leader," said Choi Jin-Wook, senior analyst with the (South) Korea Institute for National Unification.
Jong-Un's high position on the party military commission chaired by his father gives him considerable authority over the world's fourth largest armed forces, numbering almost 1.2 million.
The speed of his rise to power may indicate that his 68-year-old father's health is worse than believed, analysts said.
Kim Jong-Il, who took over from his own father and national founder Kim Il-Sung, suffered a stroke two years ago and is also thought to have kidney problems.
The Swiss-educated son, believed aged about 27, had never been named in state media before this week. No adult photograph has been seen outside the secretive communist nation.
The United States is "watching and looking for details (on the son) just about like everyone else," said Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Jong-Un's party appointments were announced after a one-day conference of the Workers' Party, its highest-level gathering for 30 years.

Family Posts
The meeting also appointed the leader's sister Kim Kyong-Hui as a member of the party political bureau. Her powerful husband Jang Song-Thaek was made an alternate member, and also appointed to the military commission and the central committee.
The couple are seen as key supporters of the untested son and likely to act as regents as he gains experience. The Kim dynasty has ruled with an iron fist since the country was founded in 1948 but the current regime faces daunting problems.
From Page 1
It is struggling to revive a crumbling command economy amid persistent severe food shortages, and is grappling with international sanctions imposed to curb its nuclear and missile programs.
The conference, however, re-elected Kim Jong-Il as party general secretary, indicating he has no immediate plans to relax his grip on power.
“Kim still remains relatively healthy but he is in a hurry to install his son as successor because of his age,” said Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.
The conference laid the foundation for continuation of hereditary succession but showed leader Kim is still firmly in control, Yang told AFP.
Jong-Un’s appointment as a general and a vice chairman of the military commission means the North will continue its military-first policy, he said, adding the son is now in a position to control the armed forces. But the son did not become a party secretary in charge of personnel changes or join its prestigious political bureau presidium.

Japan Planning Troop Deployment Near Disputed Islands

Japan is considering stationing troops near islands at the center of a row with China, a news report said Wednesday, but Beijing's move to ease mineral exports raised hopes for an easing of friction.
Asia's two powerhouses have been embroiled for over three weeks in their worst diplomatic spat in years, triggered by Japan's arrest of a Chinese captain after a tense maritime incident near the islets in the East China Sea, AFP reported.
Although Japan has since freed the skipper, a war of words has raged on between the traditional rivals, with China pursuing a multi-faceted offensive of official diplomatic protests and unofficial economic measures.
Amid the heightened tensions, Japan's Defense Ministry has asked for a budget to study a plan to station ground troops in Japan's southwestern islands near the disputed island chain, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The only Japanese troops now permanently stationed in the far south are on the region's main island of Okinawa, also the main base for US troops in Japan, but the plan calls for troops on the remote Yonaguni island, close to Taiwan.
China, which has been increasingly assertive about various other maritime territorial claims, insists that the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been part of its territory since ancient times. Amid the tensions, Beijing and Tokyo have announced no plans so far for a meeting between Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao at an Asia-Europe summit in Brussels next week.

“We are not in a win-win situation at all,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, told a press conference.
“The situation has been heading in a negative direction. I am guessing that (China) is starting to make an effort to bring it back to neutral.”
China had appeared to soften its tone on Tuesday.
“China highly values China-Japan relations,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. “But safeguarding bilateral relations requires the two sides to meet halfway and requires Japan to take candid and practical actions.”

Rare Earth Trade
In a sign that tensions may be gradually easing between the increasingly interdependent regional economic powerhouses, Japanese traders reported Wednesday that China had dropped a de-facto ban on crucial mineral exports.
One trader, Katsuyuki Matsuo, chairman of Kan Material which specializes in the rare earth trade with China, told AFP that Chinese customs had resumed procedures for exports on Tuesday, although he added that “inspections on all Japan-bound cargo are still being tougher than usual”.

Seaplanes Join IRGC Fleet

Currency War

The risk of a global currency war is low but cannot be ruled out, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Tuesday, following a spate of currency interventions.
Compiled by Katayoon Dashti

The risk of a global currency war is low but cannot be ruled out, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Tuesday, following a spate of currency interventions.
Amid mounting anger that economic powers are pouring money into currency markets to make exports cheaper at the expense of rivals, Strauss-Kahn insisted that the potential impact of an all-out currency war should give countries pause, AFP wrote.
“I don’t feel today that there is a big risk of a currency war. But that’s part of the downside risk,” Strauss-Kahn told reporters in Washington.
“I think the probability is rather low, because everybody can understand that too big conflicts...will have a negative impact. Nevertheless, it may happen.”

Brazil Warning
His comments come a day after Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega vented his anger at the impact the rising Brazilian real has had on the country’s vital export sector.
“We’re in the midst of an international currency war,” Mantega said in Sao Paulo, hinting that intervention could come soon. “This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness.”
In recent weeks, nearly a dozen governments from Colombia to Singapore have admitted to buying up local currency in the hope of driving down the price of the currency to make exports cheaper.
The dollar has fallen by about 25 percent so far this year against the Brazilian real.
“The talk of currency war is a bit exaggerated, I would say, but there is definitely a growing risk of a lower-level confrontation between countries trying to protect their exports in an unstable global economy,” said analyst David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have intervened recently to pull down the value of their currencies, the newspaper noted, and the dollar has fallen by about 25 percent so far this year against the Brazilian real. Such a fall increases the price of Brazilian exports on the US market.

US-China Tensions
But the latest rumblings come against a background of heightened tensions between the United States and China over the value of yuan and as countries scramble to regain their competitive edge after the global economic slowdown.
The United States has complained for years that China has held down artificially the value of its currency, preventing it from rising to reflect the strength of China’s foreign exchange earnings from exporting, notably to the US market.
This came to a head at the end of last week while the UN General Assembly meeting was being held when China’s Premier Wen Jiabao told a business forum in New York that voiced fears of social unrest if Beijing bowed to US pressure.
“If the (yuan) appreciates by 20 to 40 percent according to requests of the US government, we do not know how many Chinese companies will go bankrupt and how many Chinese workers will be laid off and how many rural workers will go back to their homes and there will be major turbulence in Chinese society,” he said.
In recent weeks, sentiment has grown on financial markets that the United States, which has already hinted at using World Trade Organization rules to retaliate, may see a fall of the dollar as a way of increasing pressure.

New Stimulus?
Meanwhile, there is strong debate in the United States over whether a new stimulus package would be an appropriate way to give the economy a new boost. New stimulus might also weaken the dollar, some analysts say.
US lawmakers were expected to vote on Wednesday to introduce sanctions against China, if the undervalued yuan is not allowed to rise against the dollar.
The legislation enjoys strong support from Democrats and Republicans some five weeks before November elections shaped by deep US voter anger at the sour economy and historically high unemployment hovering near 10 percent.
The currency issue now looks set to feature prominently when finance ministers and central bankers gather in Washington next week for the IMF’s annual meetings and at the upcoming group of 20 summit in South Korea.
“I think it is one of the questions which will be very much discussed during the annual meetings and during the two meetings in Korea in October and in November,” said Strauss-Kahn.
But according to a former IMF official, the fund is at least partially to blame for the ratcheting tensions.
“The IMF has abdicated its surveillance responsibilities, it is a free-for-all out there, you can do whatever you want,” said Morris Goldstein, former IMF official and member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“If China can be intervening and manipulating its exchange rate for seven or eight years in a row and the fund does not say anything, then why shouldn’t everyone else do it?”
The mismatch between savings and external surpluses built up by some countries and the external deficits in some advanced countries, mainly the United States, together with exchange rates pegged to the dollar, are widely regarded as important causal factors behind the recent global economic crisis.
Among the basic lessons of the Great Depression in the 1930s were that protectionism and so-called competitive devaluations make matters worse all round. At the height of the recent crisis, governments were at pains to express rejection of protectionism.

Saving Persian Deer

Iranian plains were once home to great numbers of deer. However, most of these places have become arid lands without any sign of deer.
Iranian plains were once home to great numbers of deer. However, most of these places have become arid lands without any sign of deer.
If Persian lions were killed by incompetent Qajarid kings, Persian deer have been killed by ignorant hunters, Mehr News Agency reported.
Cheshmeh-Gol Village in Torbat-e Jam was one of the most important habitats of Persian deer. The village is recognizable by its rows of mud-brick houses with dome-shaped roofs.
Iman Mohammadi, a ranger working for Mashhad’s Department of Environment (DoE), said Persian deer was mentioned in most environmental books published before 1992.
Mohammadi said rangers are working hard to save these endangered animals.

Characteristics
“Environmentalists have described two species of Persian deer in their books, namely gazelle subgutturosa and gazelle docras,” he said, adding that gazelle docras can run at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour.
Persian deer have short grey-brown hair in summer. Their hairs grow longer during winter and turn brown to protect the animal.
With white hair on the belly and narrow black lines on both sides of the body, Persian deer are small beautiful creatures.
“Some people catch deer to keep them at home,” he said, adding that in one of the most recent cases, four deer were seized from people by rangers.
Asked if it is possible to keep deer in captivity, Mohammadi said individuals keen on keeping deer in private farms must obtain permits from DoE.
“Unfortunately, deer hunting is still predominant in Chemsheh-Gol despite the dramatic decline in the animal’s population and frequent warnings,” he said.

Preservation
Javad Daman-Pak, another ranger, said 12 years ago, a plan was devised by the regional DoE to convert Cheshmeh-Gol into a protected zone to increase the population of deer in captivity.
Cheshmeh-Gol was identified as the best habitat for breeding deer in captivity because of its typographical features and vegetation cover.
“The protected area was fully fenced to prevent wolves from preying on the deer population,” he said.
Daman-Pak noted that large numbers of wolves’ traces were seen around fences during last winter.
“If wolves could enter the protected area, a large number of deer would have been killed in a short time. So, all efforts to save the animals would have been wasted,” he said.
Ghazaal and Ghazal are two newly-born deer calf fed by Mohammad and Reza.
They said the deer are now accustomed to human touch.
“We have prepared almost everything in the zone, including watering places and shelters set up in various places to protect the animals,” he said.
Extending over 17 hectares, Cheshmeh-Gol Protected Zone appears to be a good place to shelter the endangered Persian deer. However, to increase the number of these at-risk species, more such areas must be established across the country.

Moghan Deer
The indigenous population of Moghan deer, which has declined dramatically in recent years due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction, will be revived.
Announcing this, Asghar Khodkar, the head of Ardebil Department of Environment, told IRNA that the expansion of agricultural areas has led to the destruction of deer’s habitat in the region.
“A new plan has been devised by the country’s environmental experts to revive Moghan deer in the region,” he said.
An area measuring about 40 hectares has been allocated.
The official said 20 deer from Semnan province will be transferred to Moghan and kept in a protected area.
“They will be monitored every day by the rangers,” he said.
Khodkar noted that as per the Iranian Constitution’s Article 50, protecting environment is a public duty and holding different festivals to familiarize people with the environmental issues is necessary.

Biodiversity
Iran is situated on the desert belt of Northern Hemisphere, hence desert plays a significant role in the formation of its climatic and natural conditions. The hills and mountains that appeared in the third geological era reduced the unfavorable effects of the desert.
The existence of high snow-covered mountains near low arid and hot deserts, and the littorals of the south and the north, gave Iran a very varied climate and made it rich in many resources.
For example, while the maximum absolute temperature in Khuzestan is 54 degrees in summer, the minimum absolute temperature in Ardebil province in winter is -33 degrees.
Another example: While in the province of Hormuzgan, in the month of February, the temperature may be as high as 27 degrees, it could be as low as -25 degrees in Ardebil province. In other words, at one particular time in Iran, the temperature difference between two different points may be as high as 52 degrees.
It rains heavily in the northern Caspian Sea, up to 1400 mm annually. But in Yazd province where there is severe shortage of precipitation, it only rains 65 mm a year on average. On certain days, it rains as much on the Caspian littoral as it does over a number of years in a number of provinces put together.
Such varied climatic conditions have given Iran a wide variety of flora and fauna. As a result, Iran has ideal conditions for the cultivation of flowers.
Some of the most beautiful flowers grow naturally in Iran, such as the inverted tulip that grows abundantly on the slopes of Zardkouh (Yellow Mountain). This flower is unique to Iran.
Iran possesses 12,400,000 hectares of forests and woods, and 90,000,000 hectares of gardens (orchards). There are over 90 protected or conserved areas where the fauna can live in peace, free of the dangers of human beings.
The Iranian yellow deer and its brown bear are two unique species that are seriously protected.
Iran has 115 swamps and marshes of various sizes, 24 of which are internationally recognized as being of great environmental value both with respect to their effects on the climate and with respect to the animals which have their habitats at the sites.
The fish and other aquatic animals and migrating birds that fly to these regions are of great significance to environmentalists. Suffice it to say that every year huge numbers of migrating birds arrive at Anzali Wetland only.
Iran has a number of vast deserts such as Kavir-e Loot and Dasht-e Kavir. They provide excellent opportunities for those who are interested in the study of desert fauna and flora. The country also has impressively grand mountains that attract nature-lovers in large numbers.
Vast dense forests, seas, lakes, marshes, rivers so long that they seem to be endless, mysterious caves, hundreds of miles of plains, deep valleys, thousands of springs of mineral water, rich flora and fauna ... Iran has it all.

Workers Protest

Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday--Greek doctors and railway employees walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even blocked the Irish...
Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday--Greek doctors and railway employees walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the country’s enormous bank bailouts.
Tens of thousands of people marched through Brussels on Wednesday against government austerity measures, which unions say will slow economic recovery and punish the poor.
Trade unions said they had called rallies in 13 capitals from Lisbon to Helsinki, while Spanish unions held a general strike to oppose measures such as spending cuts and pension and labor market reforms intended to stave off economic crisis, Reuters reported.
“The main feeling of the people is that for the banking system there are millions and billions of euros, but the social payments are being cut. That’s not right,” said Ralf Kutkowski, a German coal miner protesting in the Belgian capital.
Marchers in Brussels, heading for the EU’s headquarters, waved union flags and carried banners saying “No to austerity” and “Priority to jobs and growth.” The 50 unions represented included German coal miners, Romanian gas workers and Polish shipbuilders. The protest was led by a group dressed in black suits with black face masks, carrying umbrellas and briefcases, acting as the head of a funeral cortege mourning the death of Europe.
The protest organizers, the European Trade Union Confederation, were aiming to get 100,000 people to march. Belgian police and the unions did not immediately estimate crowd numbers but one police official said at least 50,000 people were taking part.

Rare General Strike
Spain’s first general strike for eight years, a protest against the Socialist government’s public spending cuts and easier hire-and-fire laws, had a limited impact beyond disrupting transport and some factories.
Spanish unions said 10 million people, or more than half the workforce, were on strike. The government gave no numbers.
European governments say they have been forced into austerity to avert the danger of a sovereign debt crisis like the one suffered by Greece, but many workers feel they are being punished for problems that were not of their making.
“We don’t want to take it on our backs,” said Philipp Jacks, a German trade unionist marching in Brussels.
Graham Smith, a public sector youth worker from Edinburgh in Scotland, said: “The message is we need our public services because the people who need them most are the people being hit most by the crisis.”
Protests took place in many countries in the last few months. Protests on Wednesday were planned in Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Rome, Paris, Riga, Warsaw, Nicosia, Bucharest, Prague, Vilnius, Belgrade and Athens.

Greece Demonstration
Greece’s main unions, representing about 2.5 million workers, did not strike on Wednesday but plan to march to parliament in the evening to protest against measures prescribed by the EU and the IMF in return for bailing the country out.
A few smaller unions called job walkouts. Greek hospitals doctors stopped work for 24 hours and public transport was disrupted.
In Slovenia, about half of public sector workers remained on strike for the third day against a planned wage freeze, causing jams at border crossings with non-EU Croatia.
Economists say strikes and protests are unlikely to force any government to abandon structural reforms or savings measures but could make it harder for some leaders to win re-election and limit the scope of some reforms in the long run.
Economic growth has revived in the European Union, home to 500 million people and the executive European Commission expects the bloc’s economy to grow 1.8 percent this year after a 4.2 percent contraction in 2009.

Unemployment
But EU unemployment is running at 9.6 percent of the workforce, and at around twice that rate in Spain, Latvia and Estonia. Unions say austerity will curb job creation.
Financial markets are also worried about whether countries such as Ireland and Portugal can manage their debt burdens and the Commission wants tough sanctions imposed on countries that break debt and budget deficit rules.

Promising Game

Head of Iran’s football team said that the friendly match with Brazil will be a fantastic game, promising a watchable game against the Seleção.
Head of Iran’s football team said that the friendly match with Brazil will be a fantastic game, promising a watchable game against the Seleção.
Iran will meet the five-time world champion in Abu Dhabi, UAE on October 7.
Ghotbi said that the official friendly against the Golden Squad will be a must-watch match, Mehr News Agency said.
Iran is participating in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship which is underway in Amman, Jordan.
Iran was held to 2-2 draw against Oman to advance to the next round of the tournament as a top team of the Group A on Tuesday. The team coached by Afshin Ghotbi in the semifinal round of the competition may face Iraq on Friday.
In a post match news conference after Tuesday’s draw Ghotbi, 46, said, “We made 7 changes in the match. I am sure we will show a good performance in the upcoming matches.”
Iran defeated Bahrain 3-0 in the opening match while Oman was defeated 2-0 against Bahrain. Iran won the title in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2008. Iraq claimed the title once in 2002.
The sixth edition of the WAFF championship kicked off on September 24th and will run until October 3rd.
Top three teams from each group and the best second-placed team from all the groups will make it to the semifinals.
Iran is gearing up to show a good performance in the 2011 Asian Cup which will be held in Qatar in January.
Iran’s last championship in the continental showpiece dates back to 1976 when the country was hosting the event. Iran is in Group D of the event along Iraq, the title holder, North Korea and UAE.